Grain-car door.



R. KIRKWOOD & 0. LEE.

GRAIN CAR DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 12. 1914.

1,129,496., Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

Witnesses Inventors, OWW\ Attorneys ROBERT KIRKWOOD AND CHARLES LEE, OF FRANKFO'RT, INDIANA.

GRAIN-CAR D'O'OR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

Application filed September 12, 1914. Serial No. 861,398.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, RoBER'r KIRKWOOD and CHARLES LEE, citizens of the United States, residing at Frankfort, in the county of Clinton, State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Grain-Car Door, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention appertains to grain car doors, and aims to provide a novel and improved grain car door embodying a plurality of sections in combination with unique means for mounting them in place to close the door opening, and for enabling the door sections to be removed conveniently out of the way when the door is to be opened.

With the foregoing and other objects 1n View, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention has been illustrated in its preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is an inside view of the car door as applied to the wall of a grain car, parts being broken away. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a fragmental perspective view illustrating the intel-engaging portions of two adjacent door sections.

In the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the sidewall of a grain car, having the doorway or opening 2, it being understood that the present door may be employed at both sides of the car, and in connection with various railway cars, or the like.

The present door is applied to the inner side of the wall 1, and embodies a plurality of superimposed sheet metal sections 3, which are rectangular or elongated in form, and disposed edge to edge upon each other when the sections 3 are placed over the doorway 2.

As a means for mounting the door sections 3 in place when they are disposed over the doorway 2, an upright strip 4 is riveted, bolted, or otherwise secured to the inner side of the Wall 1 adjacent one edge of the doorway 2, and is provided with an inwardly offset edge portion 5 receiving the corresponding ends of the door sections 3, whereby the said ends of the said door sections will be held between the off-set portion 5 of the strip 4, and the inner side of the wall 1 of the car body. The other ends of the door sections 3 are disposed between an upright bar or strip 6 disposed upon the inside of the car adjacent the other edge of the doorway 2, the bar 6 being spaced from the wall 1, and having its upper and lower ends attached, as at 7 and 8, respectively, to the wall 1, and the bottom or floor of the car body.

In order to provide a grain tight joint between the door sections 3, the lower edges of the door sections 3 are offset inwardly, as at 9, to overlap the upper edges of the underlying door sections, for providing a tight joint between the several door sections, when they are seated one upon the other. The offset portions 9 are received by the olfset portion 5 of the strip 4, and also extend behind the bar 6.

Horizontal strips or plates 10are riveted or otherwise secured to the inner sides of the door sections 3, adjacent the upper edges of the door sections, and have their upper or free edge portions bent back downwardly to provide hooks or hangers 11 for suspending the door sections as will hereinafter appear, and for reinforcing the upper edge portions of the door sections, it being noted that the lower edge portions of the door sections are also reinforced by the offset portions 9.

A plurality of vertically spaced inclined rails or rods 12 are disposed upon the interior of the car, and extend away fromthe doorway 2, or the bar 6. The upper ends of the rails 12 are disposed adjacent or behind the bar 6, and have deflexed or downturned portions 13 terminating in inwardly projecting portions 14 secured to or riveted through the bar 6 above the ends of the respective door sections 3. One of the rails or rods 12 is provided for each door section 2,

and the respective rails 12 are spaced suitably above the door sections 3 with which they cooperate. The other ends of the rails or rods 12 are bent angularly outward, as at 15, and secured to the wall 1 of'the car body, to support the rails properly. The rails 12 are thus spaced from the wall 1, and extend upwardly between the bars 6 and wall 1 adjacent the corresponding ends of the door sections.

As a means for locking the door sections 3 relative to one another, the lower corners of the door sections 3 adjacent the bar 6 are provided with notches 16, while the upper corners of the door sections adjacent the bar 6 are bent inwardly to provide spurs or stops 17 engageable in the notches 16 when the door sections 3 are assembled, as seen in Fig. 1. Thus, the notches 16 and stops 17 in interengaging, will lock the upper door sections 3 against movement away from the strip 4 relative to the lower door section.

Chains or other flexible elements 18 are attached to the spurs or stops 17 and are provided at their free ends with rings 19 slidable upon the rails 12, whereby it is impossible for the door sections 3 to become lost or misplaced.

The lower door section 3 is locked in closed position by means of a lock pin, bolt or other member 20 engaged through the lower portion of the bar 6 and engaged into the wall 1 adjacent the corresponding end of the lower door section 3, so that when the pin 20 is inserted through the bar 6 and into the wall 1, the lower door section will be held in place, and consequently the upper door sections will be prevented from sliding relative to the lower door section through the interengagement of the notches 16 and 17 as above intimated.

The outer sides or faces of the door sections 3 are fiat and unencumbered, so as to rest snugly against the inner side of the wall 1 to close the doorway 2, it beig noted that the lower off-setedges 9 of the door sections overlap the upper edges of the underlying door sections to prevent the escape of grain when the car is filled. The ends of the door sections 3 being held between the strip 4 and bar 6 and the wall 1, will prevent the door sections from being dislodged, it being noted that one end of each hook or hanger 11 abuts against the ofiset portion. 5 of the strip 4;, and the other end fits snugly behing the bar 6 to hold the door section against rattling.

When the door sections 3 are in place across the doorway 2, and when the pin 20 is applied, the door sections will be locked in place, as above described. The pin 20 is inserted after the lower door section 3 is .moved into place, and then, the upper door sections being set upon the lower ones, will engage the notches 16 over the stops 17 to hold the upper door sections against sliding longitudinally upon the lower ones.

To open the door, the upper door section 3 is first lifted up off of the next one lower down, and the proper end of the hook or hanger 11 of the said door section is started onto the upper end of the upper rail or rod 12, in which event the said upper door section may be slid longitudinally onto the rail 12. Since the rail 12 is inclined, with its upper end adjacent the bar 6, the door section when slid onto the said rail, will remain thereon. The next door section may then be raised and run onto the corresponding rail 12, and in this manner, all of the door sections are readily removed from the doorway 2 so as to hang from the rails 12 adjacent the inner side of the wall 1 and at one side of the doorway 2. hen the door sections 3 are slid onto the rails 12, the chains 18 and rings 19 will slide down the rails 12 in advance of the door sections, and when the door sections 3 are again applied over the doorway 2, the said chains and rings will naturally follow the door sections. It is to be noted that the downturned portions 13 at the upper ends of the rails-12, having the inturned portions 14 secured to the bars 6, enables the door section hooks or hangers 11 to be readily applied onto the rails 12, in order that the door sections may hang between the rails 12 and the wall 1 with the outer flat sides of the door sections resting against the inner side of the wall 1.

To apply the door sections to the doorway 2, they are merely slid oft of the rails 12, from the lower door section up, and slid be tween the strip 4 and bar 6 and the wall 1 as above indicated.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is The combination with a wall having a doorway, of an upright bar disposed upon the inner side of the said wall adjacent one edge of the doorway, a door embodying superimposed sections adapted to rest against the inner side 01:" the said wall across the doorway, and to move between the said bar and wall, rails extending away from the doorway along the said wall, certain ends of the rails being disposed between the said bar and wall and having downturned portions provided with inturned portions secured to the said bar, the upper portions of the door sections having inner hooks adapted to fit behind the said bar and to slide onto the said rails.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own, we have hereto afiixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT KIRKWOOD. CHARLES LEE. Witnesses:

J. M. KIRKwooD, SAM. MICHAEL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. 

